


color exchange

by kunnskat



Series: OCs Through the Fandoms [13]
Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Attempted Murder, Gen, Knowledge of the future, Totsuka Tatara Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-17 13:36:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16096727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kunnskat/pseuds/kunnskat
Summary: "Oi, oi!" a louder voice drags her attention properly towards a group of men and she stares mutely while one of them approaches her. He's glowing such a pretty red, it makes her want to stare forever. And oh, his hair. She's always wanted that hair color for herself. It's her favorite.ORsome lady that knows the future and steps in to save some lives finds herself pleasantly surprised and ends up rolling with it.





	color exchange

 

 

She steps between the man and his murderer and smiles when she is the one ~~slain~~ in his stead.

 

A cry of shock leaves the man and there's **red** coming towards them that she knows is not her blood influencing her, and then the murderer flees, laughing still.

 

_"Heyheyhey come on, no, shit, you're bleeding a lot, shit-"_

                                                                                           there's a high probability that there's more said, but it's hard to focus on anything but the feeling of **dying**. There's this numbness to it that's growing and she thinks that when she no longer feels the pain, she will be in deep trouble.

Shock will make it harder to realize that it **hurts** and if she's not hurting, she might fall asleep. And then she won't wake up again, he rambles, clearly on the same train of thought.

More voices reach her and she blinks slowly, the temptation to keep her eyes closed growing.

 

_"Oi, oi!"_

               a louder voice drags her attention properly towards a group of men and she stares mutely while one of them approaches her. He's glowing such a pretty red, it makes her want to stare forever. And oh, his hair. She's always wanted that hair color for herself. It's her favorite.

 

_"Hey, you've got to stay awake,"_

                                                      the voice of the man that she'd saved tells her. She blinks again, confused until she realizes it had gotten darker. She'd been slowly closing her eyes.

Sorry, she tries to mouth at him, a faint smile offered that she hopes is apologetic but doubts is anything but tired.

 

_"Don't apologize,"_

                                   another voice interrupts and she realizes the glowing man had spoken. He's right next to her and it feels so warm, she doesn't understand how it's possible for one person to be so warm. But he is. She can feel it in the arms that slide under her knees and her back and lifts her up and

the

                numbness

                                              **_disappears_.**

A sob of pain is all she can manage to get out, but the man she'd saved is right there and he's carefully checking her wound and saying something she can't hear over her own heartbeat struggling to make itself known.

Everything hurts and she wants nothing more than to scream, still nothing audible leaves her mouth. She thinks she must be using it anyway because the one carrying her looks down and tells her,

                                                                                                     _"breathe, we're taking you to a hospital so you need to keep breathing,"_ and oh.

 

She might _survive_ this.

But how? The man would've died originally. So why isn't she?

Is it because he was there to help her? Did keeping the pressure on her wound so early give her more time? Or is it just that she was found sooner and will soon die anyway?

That's fine, though. She'd been planning on it.

 

_"Hey, stay awake,"_

                                he chides her now and when she blinks this time, she's greeted by so much white that she instinctively knows they're entering the hospital he'd mentioned.

She might **survive** this.

Trying to clear her throat brings out a cough and then she's no longer warm. With a whine, she tries to reach out for that warmth again and something firm takes her hand and squeezes it before letting go.

The warmth follows her into the darkness and she wonders if it'd be a bad thing to want to live for that warmth.

It's so warm. She instinctively thinks   **R E D** and her stomach twists in regret that she can't _keep_ it. There's something about that feeling that whispers to her that it's not  hers to have, it never will be and she shouldn't be touching it. She shouldn't be reaching for it.

She should be pushing it away.

But it's so warm. How can she deny that warmth?

There has never been anyone in this life that has ever made her feel that warm. That safe. That good.

 

Voices reach her and she blinks, wincing at the brightness that greets her and has her blinking again to stop the tears. For a moment there she believes she must have died and gone to **h e a v e n** .

 

Turning her head, though, betrays that belief as she's greeted by a familiar man who smiles at her, relief and concern warring with each other on his face.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," sounds so much clearer now, she hears his voice and knows she's heard it before, but this time the words are all there. 

She laughs at him and doesn't mind that it turns to coughing even as he jumps up to call a nurse and get her some water.

"Thanks," she whispers back before the nurse shoos him out of the room and doesn't expect to see him again.

She doesn't expect any of them, but there they are, waiting for her.

Puzzled, she stares at the group of men staring back, until the one with sunglasses sighs and takes a step forward, "-hey, sorry about all this. We were hoping we could thank you for what you did for our friend here, would you mind letting us treat you to something or other?"

"Ah, there's really no need for that? I was just trying to help. If I succeeded, that's great, but none of you owe me. If anything, I'd just like to go home and sleep for a few days," she would bow, but that'd hurt, so she decides smiling is the way to go.

"...That's a coma," one of them slowly points out even as half of them start to argue her words of not owing them.

"Sounds festive," she chirps right back, the meme springing forth into her mind before she realizes what she's saying.

The redhead snorts, "it's fine, we won't keep you. But if you need help, come find us. We'll owe you 'til then."

"You really won't, and I've got no intention of needing help, but thanks? Uh, and beware murderers please, I'm not sure I'll survive saving any of you again," should she suggest that they invest in bulletproof vests? Would that help? They'd be safer, right? Well, why not. In for a penny, in for a pound. If that's how the saying goes.

"Maybe buy some kevlar?"

"You're a sassy one," the man with the sunglasses says, holding out a hand. "We haven't introduced ourselves, have we? I'm Kusanagi Izumo and a good friend of Totsuka Tatara, I run the HOMRA bar. That's where you'll find us if you do eventually need us."

"Nice to meet you Kusanagi-san and thanks for the offer, but I really doubt it," she's not quite ready to admit she's trouble-prone, thanks. It might've been a literal accident that she managed to save the man who she now is pretty sure is this Totsuka person mentioned. There's no other feasible explanation for the name drop.

"Ah, well if you change your mind, we'll be waiting. Right, Mikoto?" he raises an eyebrow at the redhead who offers a barely visible nod.

"Suoh Mikoto, I'm their King."

Ah, that's a familiar thing to hear. It brings a smile to her lips that she excuses with a, "your hair is really pretty, I'm kind of jealous Suoh-san," and there's a snigger from the man she saved and the younger one with a hat, both.

"...Thanks."

"Well, I'll maybe see you guys around, possibly, but that coma is calling and I've been told there's a car waiting to drive me home..." she trails off with a shrug that she regrets immediately, wincing as they all murmur their thanks and goodbyes.

"Sleep well," Totsuka-san says softly, holding out a piece of paper. She's guessing it's contact information so even if she thinks she won't need it, she takes it with a roll of her eyes and a wave of her hand as she wanders off to probable safety of home.

She's not an idiot, she knows she'll see them again one way or another. They'll try to figure out where she usually goes and then they'll patrol or something, probably pretend to accidentally pass her by a few times. Check in on her and make sure she's doing well.

HOMRA is full of good people, it's just that they're portrayed as thugs and thus thought bad. But anyone can have a good heart and good hearts aren't always easy to see through facades.

These people think they owe her, too. They'll check on her for sure.

She just hadn't expected them to find her so quickly, is all. It's almost unnatural until she thinks of how Kusanagi-san has an in with that lady from the blue clan. Gods, what was her name again? Well, whatever. She'll be introduced eventually now that she's dragged into the plot.

It's only a matter of time until she stumbles into the body of her almost-killer, she thinks to herself with some amusement.

Up until she does exactly that and yelps as she falls onto the ground, blinking at the boy staring back at her, also from the ground.

"Aah, I'm so sorry!" he apologizes, jumping up and offering a hand that she takes only because she knows this is not the same person. "Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you? You look like you're in pain, I'm sorr-"

"Shh," she tells him, a hand over his mouth. "You've already apologized and I forgive you. Besides, I was literally just thinking that I'd bump into someone, I should've known better than to not pay attention. Half the fault is mine, kid."

"Ah, but-" he tries again when she takes her hand back and she just, "no, if you apologize again I will be forced to do something about it. And I can't promise you'll like it."

"Isana Yashiro," he introduces himself and laughs when she tells him she'll call him Shiro and that he should call her Midori. Then he insists on apologizing again.

"If you really want to say sorry, just help me figure out where I am. I think I got lost, I'm supposed to find myself transport to the school island. There's a meeting I'm supposed to be at," that no one has scheduled but herself, but he doesn't need to know that. All he needs to be aware of is that they're going to be at the same place. Maybe he'll come looking for her later, if he's still around when she's done with pretending to be in a meeting.

"Sure, I'll show you where to go," Shiro agrees, a mischievous grin shaping. "But in return, you'll have to let me escort you back, after!"

"I guess I can do that, if you don't mind waiting for me to be done. It shouldn't take long," unless they get all weird about her sneaking in, which well, she can manage.

"No problem, Midori!" and off she goes, friends with another victim of her almost-killer.

She hadn't expected to survive long enough for it to matter so much, but somewhere along the way she figured it's fine if she's still breathing, she'll just keep using what she knows to help however she can. Whether it is to save some people from a horrid heartache or otherwise.

"Thanks," she tells Shiro as they part ways, smiling brightly at him and inspiring a smile right back. "I'll be leaving again in an hour, I suspect, but you don't have to wait for me if you don't have the time."

"It's fine, it's fine, I'll wait!" and she takes it for what it is, a sort of promise. She kind of wants him to wait, after all.

Only, then he might follow her around in the city. And if HOMRA sees him... If they realize it's the same face? Shiro will get in trouble. And she doesn't know if her changing things will mean Kuroh will still save him. Neko should because Neko loves him by now, right? But Kuroh is necessary.

Well, if nothing else then she can just defend him herself. Fighting is impossible but standing in front of him and refusing to move should work just as well.

She feels almost bad when he tells her he can't escort her further, after. Almost.

"It's fine, I bet we'll see each other again soon anyway. After all, I work here now! As an assistant, but still. English classes. I hope you're good at that, Shiro, but I'll help you out if you aren't."

"Ah, thanks Midori! I'm passable at English but I'd appreciate help anyway."

Laughter she doesn't bother to hide spills forth, "-sure, Shiro. I'll make time after classes for extra lessons."

"Then see you soon," he calls with a wave, still there when she looks back through the window in order to return his goodbye.

"I got a new job," she tells Kusanagi-san when she sits down at the bar, solely there to let them know she won't be around in the city as much after this. "It's less intense than my previous one, so I should be doing better from now on. But it means I'll have to move, so you guys won't be seeing me around as often."

"Oh? Congratulations. Can we ask where?" he's not the only one paying her attention now, but he's the only one talking to her so she feels free to ignore the rest.

"Mm, school. So don't come looking for me, alright? You might scare the poor kids," like Shiro, for example, should they spot him. That's just a bad idea all around.

"Let us know you're still alive every few days," Suoh-san practically orders her.

"Sure," she tells him with a roll of her eyes, knowing it's easier this way. "Thanks for caring, Aka."

"Ah, Midori, you haven't known us for long and yet you know us so well," Totsuka-san laughs at her side, dropping an arm around her shoulder as he seats himself next to her. "But seriously, come visit. Anna'll cry if you don't."

"No, she won't. But I already said I would, so don't make me change my mind Totsuka-san," her words bring forth a gasp as his free hand presses against the skin over his heart.

"Still not close enough to get a nickname? You almost died for me, how much closer do we need to get? Am I missing a step in the friends instructions?"

"Return the favor," she deadpans back at him.

Kusanagi-san chuckles and there's a hum of amusement from her other side that betrays how closely Suoh-san is still listening in.

Her socializing with Shiro might be hidden for a little longer, though she suspects they'll realize if they see the kid in uniform. Or at least wonder about it. And ask her. And thus expose her, considering Totsuka-san knows she's seen his face before dying. Maybe amnesia could be a good excuse? No one's asked her about the attack yet, after all. It's not like they'd know she remembers. 

"Cruel. My heart is breaking, the air around me is disappearing, oh how I feel faint-" 

"Don't forget to breathe, Chairo. It's an important skill I hear you've forgotten," she laughs, though, as she makes her escape, leaving him to figure out that she'd nicknamed him all on his own. Maybe one of the others'll point it out. They might need to. 

It's funny. HOMRA feels like a home to her now. 

She feels sad to leave it, knowing she'll probably not be welcome there again soon if things go as wrong as she expects them to. 

It's a pity to give up the warmth, to not be able to reach for the red, but she thinks Silver might be good too.

 

Shiro smiles brightly at her the next time he sees her and starts telling her about how he almost blew up his rice cooker that very morning. 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> My 3 hours of research into it says that the nicknames I've chosen are colors. Aka being red, chairo being brown, midori being green and shiro is because she knows that's what Neko'll call him. Kuroh, too.


End file.
